Punch alignment mechanism for business forms machine



L. SCHRIBER PUNCH ALIGNMENT MECHANISM FOR BUSINESS FORMS MACHINE 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec, 19, 1966 FIG -1 INVENTOR ATTORNEY LOUISSCHRIBER BY WW Aug. 27, 1968 L. SCHRIBER 3,398,618

PUNCH ALIGNMENT MECHANISM FOR BUSINESS FORMS MACHINE Filed Dec. 19, 19662 Sheets-Sheet 2 @6 3 3 ml 9E United States Patent 3,398,618 PUNCHALIGNMENT MECHANISM FOR BUSINESS FORMS MACHINE Louis Schriber, Dayton,Ohio, assignor to The Schriber Company, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation ofOhio Filed Dec. 19, 1966, Ser. No. 602,924 4 Claims. (Cl. 83-343)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An alignment and drive mechanism for the filehole punch on a business forms machine includes a release device fordisengaging the punch and die drive gears from the drive of the machineto permit an approximate locating of the file hole punch and die set,after which the gears are again engaged. Precise adjustment isaccomplished through movement of pivotally mounted guide rollers atopposite sides of the punch and die set.

Background of the invention The invention relates to an adjustmentmechanism for the units which are employed to form so-called file holesor perforations in a web of material. The most common use of suchmechanism is in the forming of filing holes in snap out and continuousbusiness forms, and the mechanism is usually attached to and driven froma printing press for printing such business forms. The location wherethe perforations are to be made in each form as the web passes throughthe perforating unit may vary with the particular job requirements,i.e., for the form being manufactured. For example, the fold linebetween successive forms is usually made along a partially perforatedarea, formed by a standard cross-perforating unit, which also provides aline along which the forms are separated during use. The perforations orholes for receiving file retainers may be located at variable distancesfrom these crossperforations, or from the cut edge of a snap out form(the cuts being later made on a collator), and it is therefore necessaryto adjust the phasing of the cross-perforating unit and of the so-calledfile punch and die set according to the job requirements.

This adjustment may call for a change in alignment up to several inches,therefore it is often necessary to make a rather large adjustment. Thepresent invention provides a simple and quickly operable mechanism formaking this adjustment accurately in two steps, and in a minimum oftime.

Brief summary of the invention This invention relates to an adjustmentfor the file punch mechanism of a business forms manufacturing machine,and the invention has for its primary object the provision of a novelarrangement whereby the positive drive to the file punch unit can bedisconnected quickly from the drive of the machine, for making largeadjustments in the position of the file punch mechanism, whereby theprecise alignment adjustment can be made through a small distance, inthe order of a fraction of an inch; to provide a novel drive arrangementfor the file punch unit, whereby an intermediate gear is maintained inmesh with the drive gearing of the business forms machine, but ismovable into and out of engagement with the drive gears of the filepunch unit, thereby providing a reference to which the drive gears ofthe file punch unit can be adjusted in alignment of the file punch tothe particular job; and to provide such a drive arrangement wherein theintermediate gear can be quickly disengaged from the file punch gears,but is securely locked in driving engagement during normal operation ofthe unit.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be "ice apparent fromthe following description, the accompanying drawings and the appendedclaims.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic sideelevational view of the punch unit to which the present inventionapplies, shown receiving webs from the output of a business formsmachine such as a web printing press;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view, taken generally along line 22 onFIG. 1, showing details of the mechanism for disengaging the gear driveto the file punching unit;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detail view taken on line 33 in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a typical business form produced by the machine.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring to the drawings, whichillustrate a preferred embodiment .of the invention, the novel filepunch unit is illustrated in a location at the output of a businessforms manufacturing machine such as a web printing press, havingprovisions for receiving a web of material 10 which include multipleimages thereon, of continuous business forms printed on the press. Thisweb is pulled into a unit 15 which, in the usual case, forms thecrossperforations at regular intervals to define the individual forms,and to split the web into several ribbons 10a, 10b and where necessary.Units of this type are well known, and details of the unit do not form apart of the present invention.

Before entering the unit 15 the web, indicated by the reference numeral10, is passed through a line hole punch of conventional construction,which includes the usual punches 18 mounted on a cylinder 20 andoperating against a die and back-up cylinder or roll 22 to form theseries of holes 23 along the margins of the forms on the web, usually inthe precise location where lines appear on the forms. These holes, ofcourse, provide a means for accurate feeding of the forms during use.

Entering the line hole punch unit the web 10 is guided around a roller25 from an adjustable roller 28. This roller is mounted on and offsetfrom the center .of an adjusting worm gear 30. The worm 32 meshing withgear 30 can be turned by the shaft 33 which terminates in an adjustmenthandle 35 at the exterior of the machine. Rotation of the worm will movethe roller in an are about the axis of worm gear 30, perpendicular tothe web, thereby lengthening or shortening the path that the combinedweb must follow between the roller 25 and a preceding roller 37, whichfunctions as a guide means to direct the web into the region between theline hole punches and dies. As will be described, adjustment of theroller 28, and a similar adjustment upstream of the file punch unit,provides the final alignment of the web with respect to the file punchunit.

Before reaching the guiding rollers 25 and 37 the web passes through thefile punch unit, specifically between the rotatable punch cylinder 40and the cooperating die cylinder 42. The punch cylinder carries one ormore perforating punches 44, and the die cylinder 42 carriescorresponding die units 45 which form holes in the combined web atpredetermined positions along the length of the web. The purpose ofthese holes is to provide, upon separation of the forms, for use withfiling rods or the like, and therefore the holes are to be located apredetermined distance from the margin of the forms defined by thecross-perforations between successive forms.

The web is guided into this file punch unit over a guide roller 48 and afurther adjusting roller 50 which is mounted so as to move its axis ofrotation along an are offset from the center of rotation of the wormgear 52. A worm 53, connected through shaft 54 to the externaladjustment handle 55, controls the position of the Worm gear and hencethe position of the roller 50. The web enters from the printing press,and the split web or ribbons pass on to a conventional winding drum.

Referring to FIG. 2., a lateral adjustment mechanism for the file punchunit cylinders 40 and 42 is also shown. It should be understood that forconvenience of illustration these two cylinders and their correspondingstructure are shown to one side of each other in this view, althoughthey are generally vertically aligned as shown in FIG. 1.

The cylinder 40 is mounted in bearings 60 which in turn are carried insleeves 62 that are slidable to a limited extent within the side framemembers 63. Similarly, the cylinder 42 is mounted in bearings 64 whichare in turn held in slidable carriers 65 in the side frames. At one sideof the unit, the side opposite from the drive, a plate 68 is fastened tothe carriers 62 and 65, and an adjustment screw 70 passes through thisplate and is threaded into the side frame 63. A collar 71 is formed onthe shank of the adjustment screw 70, and at the outer end of the shankthere is fastened a lateral adjustment handle 72. The shank of theadjustment screw passes through a suitable bore hole in the plate 68,and is held captive within this hole between the collar 71 and thehandle 72. Rotation of the handle 72 will push or pull the carriers 62and 65 with respect to the side frames, thereby adjusting the locationof the file punch and die laterally with respect to the web.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the line hole punch unit is driven in timedrelation to the remainder of the unit 15, and to the press itself, by adrive connection 75 with the main drive or line shaft 76 of the entiremachine. An output gear of the unit 75 is indicated by the segment 77.It in turn meshes with the gear 80 connected to the back-up cylinder 22,and this gear meshes with a corresponding gear 82 connected to thecylinder 20, thereby providing the input power to the line hole punch.

An intermediate gear 85 meshes with gear 80, and as will be noted inFIG. 2, the gear 80 is sutliciently wide to permit substantial slidingmotion of gear 85 while it remains in mesh with gear 80 The gear 85 ismounted for free rotation in a bearing 87 on the end of an adjustmentshaft 88. This shaft, which does not rotate, is slidably mounted inbushings 89 within the respective side frame members 63. These for-n1members may be extensions of the unit 15. A handle 90 is fixed to theother end of shaft 88, permitting it to be pushed and pulled between anengaging and a disengaging position, shown respectively in full anddot-dash lines, and a split clamp 92 fastened to the adjacent sideframe, and surrounding shaft 88, is controlled by an arm 94 to clamp theshaft 88, particularly in its engaging position.

The normal operating position of gear 85 and its mounting shaft 88 isshown in full lines in FIG. 2. In this position the clamp handle 94 isturned to thread the screw of the split clamp 92 in a direction drawingthe clamp tightly around shaft 88, hence the gear 85 is locked in itsnormal position. To set up a new job, as part of the operation ofaligning the file punch unit for proper placement of the file holes withrespect to the cross-perforations, the clamp 92 is released by rotatinghandle 94. By pushing inward on the handle 90, shaft 88 and gear 85 aredisplaced until the teeth of gear 85 are clear of the teeth of gear 95,which is keyed or otherwise fastened to the shaft of the file punch diecylinder 42- This gear in turn is in mesh with a gear 96 (preferablyincluding a backlash adjustment as shown) that is keyed or otherwisefixed to the file punch'die cylinder 40. The split gear backlashadjustment is desirable to" minimize relative movement between the punchand die cylinders of the file punch unit, such that they rotateprecisely together to avoid excessive play between the punch and die.

With the gears 85 and 95 out of mesh, the cylinders of the file punchunit can rotate freely and an operator can move them until the punch anddie of the file punch unit are approximately aligned with respect to thedesired location of the file punch holes in the web. The degree ofapproximate alignment thus attained will depend upon the pitch dimensionon the gears employed. In a typical embodiment, it is possible toaccomplish this approximate adjustment within one eighth of an inch ofthe precise desired alignment. This approximate alignment can be madequickly and accurately, since the gear 85 remains in mesh with gear andprovides a reference to the main drive to which the gears of the filepunch unit can be set when gears and are brought back into mesh. At thistime, the clamp 92 is tightened to lock the gear 85 again in its normalposition.

Final precise alignment is obtained through adjustment of the positionof the rollers 28 and 50, by rotating the handles 35 and 55appropriately. Particularly, the position of the roller 28 will adjustthe length of the path along which the web must travel between theguiding means provided by the rollers 25, 37, 48 and 50. For example, byraising the roller 28 as shown in FIG. 1, it is possible to lengthenthis path, thereby decreasing the distance from the cross-perforation atwhich the file holes will be formed. Since the Web will leave the filepunch unit and proceed to the line hole punch and since it is desirableto maintain a constant tension in the web as it passes through the filepunch unit, it is desirable to have both the adjustable rollers 28 and50 and their adjustment mechanism acting on the web, and their positionswill be adjusted correspondingly. For example, if roller 28 is raised,the roller 50 will likewise be raised, thereby effectively shifting theweb forward (with reference to its normal movement) through the filepunch unit.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferredembodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes maybe made therein without departing from the scope of the invention whichis defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. For use with a machine for manufacturing a continuous web of businessforms and the like and having a main drive for conveying the web throughand from the machine; apparatus for perforating each form intermediatethe sides of the web comprising:

a rotary punch and a rotary die cooperating to punch holes in the web inregular intervals,

drive gears connected to said punch and to said die for rotating them inpredetermined and coordinated relation,

guiding means receiving the web to be perforated and directing the webinto the region between said punch and die,

means forming a positive drive connection from said main drive to atleast one of said drive gears including' a control for disengaging saiddrive connection to permit said drive gears to rotate together butindependently of said main drive for making an approximate alignment ofthe location of the holes formed by said punch and die with respect tothe margins at which the successive forms are connected, and meansoperable on said web immediately ahead of said punch and said die andcooperating with said guiding means to guide the web along a path ofvariable length whereby a change in the length of said path willaccomplish the final adjustment in the alignment of the punch and dierelative to said margins of the forms as the forms pass between saidpunch and die.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said positive driveconnection includes a driving gear rotatable in fixed relation to anddriven by the main drive, an intermediate gear rotatable by said drivinggear and mounted for movement between a normal driving positioncompleting a positive drive connection from said driving gear to one ofsaid drive gears of said punch and die and another position at whichsaid drive connection is disengaged at said intermediate gear, means forlocking said intermediate gear in its said normal position, and meansfor moving said intermediate gear beween its two positions whenunlocked.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said intermediate gear iscontinually in mesh with said driving gear and is movable into and outof engagement with one of said drive gears for said punch and die.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said means operable to adjustthe length of the path of the web with said guiding means includes aroller contacting said web intermediate said guiding means, mountingmeans for said roller providing for movement of the axis of rotation ofsaid roller along an arc intersecting the path of travel of the web, andmeans for adjusting said mounting means to vary the position of saidroller to change the length of the path the web must follow past saidguiding means and over said roller.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,836,018 5/1958 Key 83-303 X2,670,796 3/1954 Orr 83-303 3,004,457 10/1961 Abbenante 83'573 X3,145,649 8/1964 Baasher 83573 X 3,369,436 2/1968 Loase 83343 X 20WILLIAM S. LAWSON, Primary Examiner.

